Continuous automatic separator



Jan. 12 1926.

E. S. MURPHY CONTINUOUS AUTOMATIC SEPARATOR Filed Sept. '7; 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mvENToR Zuma/zo .5T /Va/ww/ Jan. 12 ,1926.

' E. s. MURPHY CONTINUOUS AUTOMATIC SEPARATOR Filed sein. 7. 1'921 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Juan. 12, 1926.

EDWARD s. MURPHY, oF CENTRAL Mi'RANDA, CBA.

drawings,

1,569,718 :Patri-:NT oil-"Fica CONTINUOUS AUTOMATIC sEPAnA'ron.

Application `1ed-'September 7,-1921. Seria1No.499,082.

Tocllwhom t may concer/t.'

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. MURPHY,

a citizen of the United States, and a l:resident of Central Miranda, Miranda, Oriente, Cuba, have invented a new and useful Continiious Automatic Separator, of which the `following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a separator which will continuously receive and automatically `eject the material which passes through it, and while it may be adapted for many purposes, it is particularly useful insugar cane mills when takingthe molasses out of massecuite. This `and `other lobjects are accomplished by `my invention, one embodiment of which is hereinafter more particularly set forth.

For a more detailed description of my invention, reference is to be had to the aecompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, in which tion.

Figure 2 is a sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 `of fFigui-e 1, lookingr in the direction .of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the side walls of the separator, and

Figure ,4 isa sectional view, taken on `the lined-.t of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Throughout the various views of the similar reference characters designate similar parts.

`My improved centrifugal separator 1 is @mounted on any suitable support2 which rests on any desired foundation 3 and it is provided with a rotary member 5 which is surrounded by a fixed casing 6 and the rotor driven by a suitable motor and guided n by a fixed iniiow pipe 8 which is fixed to an elbow 9 that is secured to a stud pipe l0 that runs to a T 11 which has its opened end supporting,l and connected to a tank 12 which contains massecuite or other material which is to be acted upon by the separator 1. The lower branch of the T 11 is closed and mounted on a column 13 which rests on the support 2 of the` machine.

\ The main inflow pipe `8 is provided with be 'added to the material `which is `Lbeing separated at different levels, should thisbe desired.

The yinflow `pipe 8 has a ball bearing 17 `mounted thereon at any suitable level., and

this bearing `has its fixed part secured tto the pipe Sand its `movable part secured to fa spider `18 which is adapted to turn 1freely yabout the axis of the inflow pipe 8. `The pipe S also carries below this bearing;r 17

andV the spider 18 an oil receiving collar or `cup` 19 which is -xed on said :pipe with a iand separated from this @pipe substantially as shown so as to form an oil receiving vessel. Theuupper vessel is connected to the `cup 19 by means of an inclined passage 22 and a scoop 23 which enters 'the oil 24 in `the cup 19 and when the spider rotates, as will be described below, oil is carried out `of Athe cup -19 and into the :chamber within `the collar i21and from thence it .flows againstblades 25 which carry this oil to the interior `of `the chamber so that it Wllflow through :the lballbearing 17 with a ready flow.. In the ,preferred embodiment of my invention, `the ball bearing 17.1has upper and lower races with upper and lower balls and between the two races and 1on the interior of the spider 18 are placed a second Set of blades 26 which correspond to the blades 25 and `perform the same identical function. In a machine of this character which runs at ahigh speed, say eight hundred `revolutions in a minute with a hot ma* teria-l therein with a. temperature therein say of 140o Fahrenheit which lis necessary to have a free flow of good thin oil to keep the bearings running properly, and this is supplied by the `device just above described.

The spider 1S is pit'ovided with a number of arms 27 and at their extremities these arms 27 are provided with pads 2S which engage an annular ring 29 which runs close to the top ofthe casing 6, but free of the same. The ring?)- 29 is connected to a frustriim of a cone which is designated by the character' 30 and this is connected at its lower edge to a second ring 31 and this .ring 31 is the top over a second frustruin S2 which extends downwardlyto a third ring 33, and this in turn is connected to the top ot a frustrum which is secured to a ring 35 at its lower edge, and this ring is at the top of a .t'rustrum 36 which at its lower edge is secured to a ring 3T and the ring 3T is at the top of a rustrum 38 which is secured to a bronze disc 59 at its lower edge and the bronze disc is so mounted that its axis coincides with the axis of the pipe 8 and it is supported by the upper end of the vertically disposed motor 7 and preterably by the armature ot the motor, and the lower ends of this armature rests on a thrust ball bearing hll) which is placed on the foundation 3 and iixed true in any desired manner, it being understood that the axis of the motor 7 is also the axis of the pipe 8 so that the rotor 5 may run true when driven by the motor;

As an upward flow of the material which passes through and issues from the bottom of the pipe 8 is essential to the proper functioningl oit the apparatus, provision 4has to be made for forcing upwardly the viscous mass. Furthermore, this mass becomes increasingly viscous as its moisture is progressively ejected and so provision must be made for increasing the upward forcing tendency. This provision is had as follows. The bottom frustrum is inclined to its base at a large angle say 85, the next frustruni 36 is inclined to its base by a smaller angle, say S0", the next 3l has a corresponding inclination of 750, the next one 32 an inclination of 70D, and the trustrum 30 an inclination of 65o. .By this inclination, progressively increasing as the mass gets more viscous and rises, it is possible to get an upward thrust which will overcome the influence of gravitation until finally the mass will fiow on each side of the spacing blocks 28 and over the ring 29 and into an inclined trough al which runs about the outer pe riphery ot' the shell 6 and diagonally, as shown, to a chute 42 down which this material passes and it may be caught in any desired way as in a receptacle 43 below the end ot the chute.

l the mass is too viscous to function properly, water or other fiuid may be turned on through the pipes 1l and nozzle SIG, as above set lorth, so as to facilitate the l'low.

The ifi-astra 30, 32, lfl, 236 and 3S are all built up in identically the same way so that a description ot one will answer for all. The outer wall is composed ot a perforated metal shell #lli which is made of any suitable material, as bronze or brass or copper, and next to this is placed a wire gauze l5 and inside the wire gauze is placed a second conical screen Lt6 with vertically disposed slits. The screen all and the wire gauze screen 45 are removable and are held in place by suitable grooves, the bottom groove 417 being at the lower end and the upper groove a8 is at the upper end and the` upper groove is provided with a downwardly disposed overhanging edge 49 which tends to hold the removable screens in place. The outer screens lelare secured to the upper and lower rings by means of suitable rivets 50, or any other suitable means, which rivets have counter-sunk heads so that their ends are llush with the outer surfaces oi the screens 44.

The arms 27 of the spider i8, support the parts 2b and the ring 29, and these parts are secured together by any suitable means as bolts 5l which pass through all these parts.

The interior ot the casing (l is provided with any desired number ot fixed partitions 52 and 53 which are substantially horizontally disposed and somewhat inclined which partitions catch the expressed water, or other moisture, which is thrown through the screens et-'l and this water' is caught in suitable vessels 54 which are placed below spouts 55 which are connected with the spaces just above these respective partitions so that all this liquid together with its con tained sugar or salts or other desirable elements, is caught and not wasted and is available tor further treatment. The top of the casing G is provided with an annular flange 5G which is upwardly and inwardly disposed so as to cover the trough lll and the greater part ot' the ring 29.

As the rotor 5 will carry the large mass of heavy material at a high speed, it may be that the screens Llwill be too weak for the load unless reinforcement be provided. To properly reinforce and strengthen this rotor without unduly increasing its bulk and weight, or in any way interthring with its action, I provide the spider 18 with perforated ears 57 which are connected to wires 5S which run to the rings 325 and 35 where their ends are secured. Each of these wires 58 is provided with a turn-buckle 59 by means ot which it may be put at a proper tension.

In view of the foregoing, the operation oi my improved separator will be readily understood. Assuming that massecuite or other material flows in a regular stream through the pipe 8 and 'from the tank l2, as above stated, and that the rotor .7 is rotating at the proper speed, this material is at once distributed over the disc ill) and thrown to the periphery of the conical sleeve 28 where some ot' the moisture is expressed through the openings, whereby the material is rendered a little more viscous than tormerly. The centrifugal torce acting ou this material will cause it to climb upwardhr on the interior ot the cone while givingr up some of its excess moisture and increasing in viscosity until it passes the upper edge CII lill

oi the ring 37 and then it Will come against the cone 36 Where more moisture is extracted and the viscosity of the liquid is increased and so is its ability to climb because of the greater inclination of this sieve as comparedvvith theone below. This process is continued with increasing viscosity and a corresponding increase in ease of climb! ing vbecause of the increased slope until the dried mass, Which has parted With all or nearly all of its moisture, emerges from the rotor and passes over the ring 29 and is projected into the trough 4l from whence it falls, as above described, into the chute l2 and passes off. If the mass is too viscous to act properly, as above described, Water may be added in any desired proportion to facilitate the proper action of the apparatus, and this Water may be placed at any desired level, as above set forth. The process of extracting moisture may be continued as above described, as a continuous as long as desired.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that it is not restricted thereto, but that it 7 process is broad enough to cover all structures that come within the scope of the annexed. claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A rotor for centrifugal machines provided With a disc, side Walls composed of rustra of increasing slope from the bottoni up, whereby the ejecting force of the rotor when in use is progressively increased, a top ring about the upper edge of the uppermost frustra and a spider secured to the top ring.

2. A rotor for centrifugal machines provided vvith a disc, side Walls composed oi" frustra of increasing slope from the bottom up, whereby the ejecting force of the rotor when in use is progressively increased, top ring about the upper edge oi'. the uppermost frustra, a spider secured to the top ring and Wires connecting the interior o the rustra With the spider, whereby the strength of the side walls of the rotor is increased.

In `testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 26th day ,of August,

EDWARD S. MURPHY. 

